-LRB- CNN -RRB- The Baltimore mother who slapped her son several times and pulled him out of a protest told CNN on Wednesday she was n't concerned that she might be embarrassing her son .

`` Not at all , '' Toya Graham told CNN 's `` Anderson Cooper 360 ˚ '' in an interview that aired Wednesday night . `` He was embarrassing himself by wearing that mask and that hoodie and doing what he was doing . ''

The video of Graham yanking her son , Michael Singleton , and slapping him with a right hand as CNN affiliate WMAR recorded has led to the Internet calling Graham #motheroftheyear . Many people have praised the unemployed , single mother of six for going to the Mondawmin Mall and getting her son away from the escalating violence .

Graham told Cooper that she saw her son with a brick in his hand , and she lost control of her emotions and told him to drop it .

Wednesday night : Across United States , protests in support of Baltimore demonstrators

`` I did -LRB- get emotional -RRB- . You know , once he threw that rock down I said , ` You were n't brought up like this , ' '' Graham said .

He 's not a perfect child , but he 's also not a thug , she said .

The 16-year-old boy said he understood that his mother was there looking out for him .

`` She did n't want me to get in trouble -LRB- with the -RRB- law . She did n't want me to be like another Freddie Gray , '' he said , referring to the 25-year-old man who died of a severe spinal injury after being arrested by Baltimore police .

Gray 's death has sparked daily protests over police brutality . There have also been riots and looting that prompted the city to put a curfew into effect .

Graham said her son told her the night before the violence at the mall that something was up . She told him then and the next morning not to go . He swore to her he would n't .

Her motherly sense kicked in when she heard school had closed early and the mall was shutting down , too .

She went to the mall and focused on the teens who were tossing rocks and bricks . There he was , in sweatpants she recognized . They made eye contact .

He had a brick in his hand , and that set her off .

Wednesday night : Marchers back in the streets of Baltimore

`` I was so angry with him that he had made a decision to do some harm to the police officers , '' she said .

She yelled at him to put the brick down .

Singleton said he had seen her , but it did n't make sense that his mother would be there . But when he heard her voice , he realized it really was his mom -- and he was in big trouble .

Then the camera captured her memorable smackdown .

`` It was just World War III from right there , '' he said , showing some humor about the incident .

Graham noticed the TV crew but did n't think anything of it . And she did n't care .

`` I was n't there to be recorded . I was there to get my child , '' she said .

Tameka Brown , one of Graham 's five daughters , told CNN on Tuesday it was n't that hard for her mom to spot her 16-year-old half-brother .

`` She knows her son and picked him out . Even with the mask on , she knew , '' Brown said .

Brown said her mother is always looking out for her children .

`` She has always been tough and knows where we are at , '' Brown said .

Graham said she tries to steer her son away from potential trouble and troublemakers .

`` As long as I have breath in my body I will always try to do right by Michael and show him what 's going on out in society does n't have to be you , '' she told CNN .

Her son said that once they got home from the mall he understood why she pulled him out of the crowd .

`` I was embarrassed a little bit , until she just started talking to me when we got home , '' he said . '' -LRB- She was -RRB- just telling me she did it because she cared about me . And it was n't to embarrass me , but because she cared . ''

CNN 's Elise Miller and AnneClaire Stapleton contributed to this report .

Watch Anderson Cooper 360 ° weeknights 8pm ET . For the latest from AC360 ° click here .

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Video of Toya Graham going to a protest and forcefully removing her son went viral , drew a lot of praise

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The single mother of six tells CNN her son was scolded that he was n't brought up that way

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Michael Singleton says he knows his mom was trying to protect him